The music of the peoples of the islands of the 
Republic of Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation. Despite the vastness of the country and its many regional differences, certain common musical traditions can be found throughout the Indonesian archipelago. Everywhere some form of ensemble exists that is made up of small tuned gongs and two or three drums. Generally, these gong-and-drum ensembles accompany ritual and religious activities. Throughout the islands, historical and religious epics are sung, and they are often accompanied by a stringed instrument or a flute. Another common element is the belief that music is a means of communicating with unseen powers.
Because musical performance has always been strongly tied to ritual activity in Indonesia, changes of religion over the centuries have been associated with the coming of new musical styles and musical instruments. Rather than discard the old for the new, Indonesians prefer to add the new to the old. Thus, old music and new music coexist.
Gong-and-Drum Ensembles.
Although Indonesia has many kinds of solo vocal music, choral music, and music for wind and stringed instruments, it has more varieties of ensembles of gongs and drums than any other country in the world. The gongs of these ensembles, with their raised knob in the center and their deep, turned-down rims, are generally termed pot gongs (seeGong). Made of bronze, they have been manufactured in Indonesia for at least 1000 years and possibly for 2000 or 3000 years, and they are sometimes believed to possess supernatural power. The simplest ensembles have only four or five small pot gongs (tuned to different pitches) and two or three drums. Each gong and drum starts playing one after the other; the individual players fit their parts between the beats of the other instruments. Some of the gongs and drums play short, continuously repeated patterns, while others play many melodic and rhythmic variations against these repeated patterns. The musical performance is thus both always the same and constantly changing.
One such ensemble is the goo-laba. Played by the Nga'dha peoples of Flores, an island of Eastern Indonesia, this ensemble consists of five gongs (goo) and three drums (laba). In the basic musical cycle the five gongs interlock in an eight-beat pattern:
The vela gong plays beats, 2, 4, 6, and 8.
The uto-uto gong plays beats 1, 3, 5, and 7.
The dhere gong plays beats 2, 3, 6, and 7, but damps beats 3 and 7.
The first of the doa gongs plays beat 4.
The second doa plays beats 2, 5, and 8, but damps beat 8.
The vela is the first instrument to play; the others enter in turn. The drums, similarly, play three different patterns in an eight-beat framework.
The instruments and music of the goo-laba ensemble are believed to be links with the venerated ancestors of the Nga'dha peoples and are treated with great respect. In the early 20th century the Nga'dha peoples converted to Christianity; now, hymn singing is one of their most common musical activities. Nevertheless, whenever a ceremonial feast includes rites honoring the ancestors, the goo-laba ensemble is brought out of storage and played for hours at a stretch. Similarly, the Minang Kabau peoples of Sumatra, who converted to Islam in the late 16th century, perform mystical Islamic poetry, sung in Arabic and accompanied by a tambourine (terbang). For the most ancient ceremonies—such as those meant to ensure a good rice harvest—they play the talempong ensemble of gongs and drums.
The Gamelan.
Of the drum-and-gong ensembles of Indonesia, the largest and best known are the gamelan ensembles of Java and Bali. While retaining their ritual associations with the ancestors and with the fertility of Java and Bali, these ensembles also became associated with Hinduism and Buddhism, which were widely followed in Indonesia between ad 500 and 1500. Hinduism and Buddhism encourage intense concentration on the inner state of being as well as on the details and processes of the outside world; this concentration led to an artistic value that emphasized restraint and refinement. In Java and Bali, Hindu-Buddhist influence resulted in the development of unusually large musical cycles, sometimes as long as 512 beats (compared to the 8 beats of the goo-laba ensemble), and in these cycles the variation parts became extremely subtle. It was believed that the more delicate, subtle, and refined the music, the more spiritually advanced the musician.
As the gamelan developed, many instruments were added to the basic drum-and-gong ensemble, including several varieties of metallophones (bronze-keyed xylophones). The largest and best-quality gamelans require about 30 musicians and were once owned by regional kings. Different courts competed not only in battle but also to see who could provide the most beautiful performances of dance and music.
No gamelan or gong-and-drum ensemble has the same tuning as any other ensemble. In Central Java, two general categories of tuning exist, sléndro and pélog. Tunings belonging to the sléndro category have five almost equidistant pitches per octave. Tunings in the pélog category have seven pitches per octave, with some adjacent notes a large interval apart and others a small interval apart. Sléndro does not resemble the worldwide pentatonic (five-note) scale, nor is pélog like any common diatonic (seven-note) scale. The multiplicity of tunings is a source of great satisfaction to Indonesians, who enjoy comparing the emotional quality of the tunings of different gamelans or gong ensembles. Some tunings are considered happy, some brave, some coquettish, some melancholy.
Recent Developments.
Exposure to the music of the gamelan influenced the work of such 20th-century Western composers asClaude Debussy in France, Benjamin Britten in England, and Henry Cowell and Lou Harrison (1917–2003) in the U.S. In Indonesia, meanwhile, the cultural role of music has changed considerably. Increasingly, a musical performance is not part of a ritual, but a public, professional activity for which a ticket must be purchased. Audiences may applaud, and musicians may take bows—activities unknown at traditional rituals. The government has established schools for the study of music, both to preserve and to encourage traditional arts. Rahayu Supanggah (1949– ), an Indonesian composer and performer, has written extensively both for the Javanese gamelan and for non-Indonesian instruments. J.B., JUDITH BECKER, M.A., Ph.D.
For further information on this topic, see the Bibliography, section731. Indonesian music.
Republic of Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation. Despite the vastness of the country and its many regional differences, certain common musical traditions can be found throughout the Indonesian archipelago. Everywhere some form of ensemble exists that is made up of small tuned gongs and two or three drums. Generally, these gong-and-drum ensembles accompany ritual and religious activities. Throughout the islands, historical and religious epics are sung, and they are often accompanied by a stringed instrument or a flute. Another common element is the belief that music is a means of communicating with unseen powers.Because musical performance has always been strongly tied to ritual activity in Indonesia, changes of religion over the centuries have been associated with the coming of new musical styles and musical instruments. Rather than discard the old for the new, Indonesians prefer to add the new to the old. Thus, old music and new music coexist.
Gong-and-Drum Ensembles.
Although Indonesia has many kinds of solo vocal music, choral music, and music for wind and stringed instruments, it has more varieties of ensembles of gongs and drums than any other country in the world. The gongs of these ensembles, with their raised knob in the center and their deep, turned-down rims, are generally termed pot gongs (see
Gong). Made of bronze, they have been manufactured in Indonesia for at least 1000 years and possibly for 2000 or 3000 years, and they are sometimes believed to possess supernatural power. The simplest ensembles have only four or five small pot gongs (tuned to different pitches) and two or three drums. Each gong and drum starts playing one after the other; the individual players fit their parts between the beats of the other instruments. Some of the gongs and drums play short, continuously repeated patterns, while others play many melodic and rhythmic variations against these repeated patterns. The musical performance is thus both always the same and constantly changing.One such ensemble is the goo-laba. Played by the Nga'dha peoples of Flores, an island of Eastern Indonesia, this ensemble consists of five gongs (goo) and three drums (laba). In the basic musical cycle the five gongs interlock in an eight-beat pattern:
The vela gong plays beats, 2, 4, 6, and 8.
The uto-uto gong plays beats 1, 3, 5, and 7.
The dhere gong plays beats 2, 3, 6, and 7, but damps beats 3 and 7.
The first of the doa gongs plays beat 4.
The second doa plays beats 2, 5, and 8, but damps beat 8.
The vela is the first instrument to play; the others enter in turn. The drums, similarly, play three different patterns in an eight-beat framework.
The instruments and music of the goo-laba ensemble are believed to be links with the venerated ancestors of the Nga'dha peoples and are treated with great respect. In the early 20th century the Nga'dha peoples converted to Christianity; now, hymn singing is one of their most common musical activities. Nevertheless, whenever a ceremonial feast includes rites honoring the ancestors, the goo-laba ensemble is brought out of storage and played for hours at a stretch. Similarly, the Minang Kabau peoples of Sumatra, who converted to Islam in the late 16th century, perform mystical Islamic poetry, sung in Arabic and accompanied by a tambourine (terbang). For the most ancient ceremonies—such as those meant to ensure a good rice harvest—they play the talempong ensemble of gongs and drums.
The Gamelan.
Of the drum-and-gong ensembles of Indonesia, the largest and best known are the gamelan ensembles of Java and Bali. While retaining their ritual associations with the ancestors and with the fertility of Java and Bali, these ensembles also became associated with Hinduism and Buddhism, which were widely followed in Indonesia between ad 500 and 1500. Hinduism and Buddhism encourage intense concentration on the inner state of being as well as on the details and processes of the outside world; this concentration led to an artistic value that emphasized restraint and refinement. In Java and Bali, Hindu-Buddhist influence resulted in the development of unusually large musical cycles, sometimes as long as 512 beats (compared to the 8 beats of the goo-laba ensemble), and in these cycles the variation parts became extremely subtle. It was believed that the more delicate, subtle, and refined the music, the more spiritually advanced the musician.
As the gamelan developed, many instruments were added to the basic drum-and-gong ensemble, including several varieties of metallophones (bronze-keyed xylophones). The largest and best-quality gamelans require about 30 musicians and were once owned by regional kings. Different courts competed not only in battle but also to see who could provide the most beautiful performances of dance and music.
No gamelan or gong-and-drum ensemble has the same tuning as any other ensemble. In Central Java, two general categories of tuning exist, sléndro and pélog. Tunings belonging to the sléndro category have five almost equidistant pitches per octave. Tunings in the pélog category have seven pitches per octave, with some adjacent notes a large interval apart and others a small interval apart. Sléndro does not resemble the worldwide pentatonic (five-note) scale, nor is pélog like any common diatonic (seven-note) scale. The multiplicity of tunings is a source of great satisfaction to Indonesians, who enjoy comparing the emotional quality of the tunings of different gamelans or gong ensembles. Some tunings are considered happy, some brave, some coquettish, some melancholy.
Recent Developments.
Exposure to the music of the gamelan influenced the work of such 20th-century Western composers as
Claude Debussy in France, Benjamin Britten in England, and Henry Cowell and Lou Harrison (1917–2003) in the U.S. In Indonesia, meanwhile, the cultural role of music has changed considerably. Increasingly, a musical performance is not part of a ritual, but a public, professional activity for which a ticket must be purchased. Audiences may applaud, and musicians may take bows—activities unknown at traditional rituals. The government has established schools for the study of music, both to preserve and to encourage traditional arts. Rahayu Supanggah (1949– ), an Indonesian composer and performer, has written extensively both for the Javanese gamelan and for non-Indonesian instruments. J.B., JUDITH BECKER, M.A., Ph.D.For further information on this topic, see the Bibliography, section
731. Indonesian music. An article from Funk & Wagnalls® New Encyclopedia. © 2006 World Almanac Education Group. A WRC Media Company. All rights reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by written agreement, uses of the work inconsistent with U.S. and applicable foreign copyright and related laws are prohibited.
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